§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) full-time and (b) part-time teachers and tutors are in post at each (i) prison and (ii) young offender institute. [187216]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThere are currently 405 full-time teachers and tutors in post in prisons and 271 in Young Offenders Institutions. For part-time teachers the figures are 225 in prisons and 103 in Young Offenders Institutes.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many prison education tutors have(a) resigned and (b) been made redundant in each of the last five years; and how many vacancies there are for these staff. [187217]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThis information is not held centrally by HM Prison Service. Learning and skills in prisons are delivered by 28 educational providers in 137 prisons.
Matters relating to the employment status of tutors are the responsibility of the contractors.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has for the Offenders' Learning and Skills Unit within his Department. [187218]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe OLSU continues to play a key role in managing improvements to offender learning and skills, working in partnership with a range of Departments and agencies across Government; including the Learning and Skills Council and the prison and probation services. From April 2004, the role of the unit extends to learning and skills for offenders in the community, as well as in custody.
As we develop plans for improving future delivery of learning and skills for offenders, the unit expects to work increasingly closely with the Learning and Skills Council and other regional partners. As part of the Government's commitment to moving resources closer to the front line of delivery, we will consider how the unit's regional advisory staff could work most effectively within the regions for the future.
§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what role the regional Learning and Skills Councils will have in the(a) commissioning and (b) delivery of offender education in (i) prisons and(ii) the community; [187220]
(2) whether the new contracts for prison education will provide funding for (a) staff development, (b) lesson planning, (c) marking of students' work and (d) pastoral education. [187215]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisThe DfES is working closely with the Learning and Skills Council, the Prison Service, the Probation Service, the Youth Justice Board and JobCentreplus on new arrangements to support improvements in the learning and skills of offenders in the community as well as those in custody.
The Learning and Skills Council already works in partnership at local level with probation services in order to deliver learning and skills to offenders under supervision in the community. From next year, starting in the three development regions of the north east, north 996W west and south west, the LSC will also assume lead responsibility for planning and funding, education and work related skills training for offenders in custody.
The precise balance between local, regional and national commissioning in arrangements for the future service for offenders, and the detailed content of any new contracts, will be agreed as we develop a new delivery framework over the next year.
This work is still at an early stage. We expect the LSC to ensure flexibility in contracting arrangements, and to adopt a funding formula which will promote consistency in the funding of offender learning across all regions. In the meantime, in order to ensure stability, we are extending the current prison education contracts in broadly their existing form.